0 'Israel Loves Iran' initiative takes off on Facebook and other major world media sources!!

Online posters, initiated by an Israeli couple,sending messages of love and peace draw widespread world attention and managed to achieve the support of 1,000 Israelis and Iranians; The initiative also got to the main page of CNN.

Iranians respond to Israeli Facebook initiative: Israel, we love you too -
Numerous posts by Iranians start popping up on 'Israel loves Iran' Facebook page, in response to Israeli messages of peace.
“My Israeli friends, I do not hate you; I do not want war. love, Peace,” read many Iranian posters that were posted by Iranians to the new group page. Most of the Iranians, who posted messages to the Facebook group, did so with their faces partially veiled, probably out of fear from the Iranian authorities. On Saturday, Edry said that Iranian group members explained that they could be arrested if recognized in the photos.

In addition to Edry and Tamir’s initiative, a new Facebook group titled “Israelis against a War with Iran,” went up on Thursday.

“Most of the Israeli public is opposed to an adventure of this sort that may have catastrophic consequences. Many experts warn of the results an attack on Iran and a declaration of war of this sort may bring. Iran is expected to respond, meaning there would be many Israeli casualties,” the group founders added citing former Mossad chief Meir Dagan’s opposition to an attack.”

19.03.12

An online call for peace initiated by an Israeli couple has managed to achieve the support of 1,000 Israelis and Iranians. And it all began with two posters.
Ronny Edry and his wife Michal Tamir, together with "Pushpin Mehina", a small preparatory school for graphic design students, uploaded posters to Facebook depicting images of themselves with their children alongside the words, "Iranians, we will never bomb your country, we [heart] you."

Attached to each poster was the caption, "To the Iranian people, To all the fathers, mothers, children, brothers and sisters, For there to be a war between us, first we must be afraid of each other, we must hate. I'm not afraid of you, I don't hate you. I don t even know you. No Iranian ever did me no harm."

"I'm not an official representative of my country. I m [sic] a father and a teacher", wrote Edry, adding that he wishes to send a message on behalf of his neighbors, family, students and friends. "[W]e love you. We mean you no harm", he wrote. "On the contrary, we want to meet, have some coffee and talk about sports."

In a conversation with Haaretz, Edry explained that he hoped his initiative would reach the Iranian citizens, but admitted that he never believed it would gain so much momentum. "On my Facebook page I have left-wing friends who always speak of these things; they all agree with me. Every so often a right-winger answers me saying what we're on about is rubbish, but I've never spoken to an Iranian."

"I thought that when you're constantly surrounded by talk of threats and war, you are so stressed and afraid that you crawl into a sort of shell and think to yourself how lucky we are to also have bombs and how lucky we are that we'll clean them out first," he said. "So I thought, 'Why not try to reach the other side; to bypass the generals and see if they [Iranians] really hate me?'"

“My Israeli friends, I do not hate you; I do not want war. love, Peace,” read many Iranian posters that were posted by Iranians to the new group page. Most of the Iranians, who posted messages to the Facebook group, did so with their faces partially veiled, probably out of fear from the Iranian authorities. On Saturday, Edry said that Iranian group members explained that they could be arrested if recognized in the photos.

“Dear Israeli Friends and World! Iranians love peace and we hate hate!...and we don't need any Nuclear Power to show it!” one poster caption stated.

“I’m from Iran and love your idea and your efforts against war and for peace. I am really happy to get to know you and people like you, and hope to find more people like you. Here in Iran the situation is complicated and many people hate the governments and their bullshit,” another anonymous Iranian wrote in a poster he published.

Like any other web phenomena, humoristic and cynical responses to the initiative were quick to appear. For example, a mock post by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reading: “Iranians I love you. I truly truly love you. It’s my people I hate.” Another poster promised Swedish girls that Israel would never bomb their country.

In addition to Edry and Tamir’s initiative, a new Facebook group titled “Israelis against a War with Iran,” went up on Thursday. “The newspaper headlines tell the tale: The prime minister is trying to legitimize an Israeli attack on Iran, which is expected soon,” a post on the group’s page reads.

“Most of the Israeli public is opposed to an adventure of this sort that may have catastrophic consequences. Many experts warn of the results an attack on Iran and a declaration of war of this sort may bring. Iran is expected to respond, meaning there would be many Israeli casualties,” the group founders added citing former Mossad chief Meir Dagan’s opposition to an attack.”